Electric Vehicle Club

The idea for Lafayette’s EV Club came from a senior design project a few years ago. Mechanical engineering students partnered with electrical and computer engineering students to design and race an electric vehicle in the Formula Hybrid + Electric Competition, and that sparked an interest. Although many in this interdisciplinary club are pursuing engineering, others major in economics, government and law, and international studies.

Mechanical engineering major Dylan Danko ’24, who joined the club in 2021, says the group is an opportunity to apply coursework and gain hands-on experience like designing and manufacturing parts of a vehicle. But it’s also about creating something bigger: “Building an organization for people to learn is just as, if not more, important than building a car itself.”

In the fall, Laf EV Club welcomed local middle school students to talk about sustainable engineering and transportation. They shared advice on building electric cars, like creating mechanical drawings and identifying electrical components, along with embracing the critical design process of trial and error. Says Danko: “I hope they see that skills they build now continue to be valuable well into college and beyond.”